New businesses help Forsyth grow | Business

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Downtown development is on Loraine Khoury's radar. "All cities go in cycles and we're coming for a low cycle now, we're headed back up," said Khoury

Khoury is the Executive Director of the Forsyth Downtown Development Authority,

She says she hopes to see the city grow into a place more people want to visit. "It's going in the right direction. We're trying to grow and improve our retail in downtown. So I'm just real pleased. It's kinda like dominoes, they start falling and then one right after the other," said Khoury.

Khoury says about 13 new businesses have opened in the downtown area over the last two years. She says that number shows what the future may hold for the city of Forsyth. "We are looking to be a village. We want some unique businesses to come in and open up so it'd be interesting. We'd like to have some maybe art studios," said Khoury.

And Freddy Butts agrees. He's the owner of Prime Palate, a restaurant on Main Street. He says more businesses attract more people to downtown."The more the merrier. The more that we have to offer people to either come from the surrounding areas or to come off the interstate is great," said Butts.

Butts says with Forsyth's central location, he hopes to see more people flock to the area. "It would be great for Forsyth to become a hub that people feel comfortable," said Butts.

Eric Wilson, member of the Forsyth City Council, says the council is working working to eliminate city property taxes. He hopes that will lure in more business owners to open up downtown. "That would be a great incentive because that's one of the things you know businesses always ask for is tax abatement. When you don't have a city property tax at all then you've answered that question before they even ask," said Wilson.

Wilson and Khoury say creating an environment people want to come to will create more business for the city.

City manager Janice Hall says Governor Nathan Deal signed a charter last week to create a Convention and Visitors Bureau in Forsyth. Hall says she hopes it will bring more people to the area and create more business opportunities for the city.